cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

anyone else see it???
nice car and everything and its a cracking read but the bit on page 191
about homologation, the fella reckons the car is one of only 500 homologation cars ford produced to go rallying.

i never heard that one before.
i still think we need a definitive post by way of a sticky, so anyone
new to the escort cosworth or needing correct information can look
it up here.

i mean it would be great if there was only 500 homologation
cars produced because my car is one of them but there wasn't.
infact some of the shite i keep reading(in general about rs's,and not ff) is probably going to start cocking up the values of cars

The Youth.

iTrader: (1)

he is wrong it was 2500 that were needed, they were all big turbo models, they built more big t than 2500 tho, then went on to the small t when homolagation wasn't an issue.
Im not sure how many of the 2500 had the water injection tanks under the rear seat that might of just been 500 dunno

steve

THE RADMAN

iTrader: (2)

i saw that and had a laugh as well its the same as the guy with the j/violet monte saying there are only 9 left these urban myths/rumours get picked up and spread like mad good idea on some sort of sticky but it would have to contain a hell of a lot of info

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

well its been mooted before, but there is some stuff i just don't
agree with,some spoken by people who like to think they know it all
and when presented with cold hard facts, then just stfu (i'm talking
general,not this forum )

how could we do somthing then????

i know it was 2500 homologation,but i have also seen another people
say its 5000 which i pointed out was crap,but they say it with so much
conviction that people start to believe it

my own homologation car has the pipes and the pump under the back
seat

gareth589

Hi Guys, please dont bite my head of as a virgin, In relation to this question I was told the following by Ford Customer Care Team in there Special Planning Department,

When the cossie was brought out in 92, they prouduced 500 escorts with the black water injection system in the boot along with a different ecu, However this was only for homoglation purposes, they continued to produce the cossie with the water injection in the boot for a further 6 months, after this it was deemed it was not needed.

This is how i have been led to believe.

Regards

Gareth

The DIVA

iTrader: (3)

Gareth is correct........The first 500 cars were produced in order to secure the issue of the "Homologation" certificate(These all had the two water injection pumps under the back seat base)

These cars were deemed by everyone to be the "Homologation" cars.....in truth,as Ford had to produce another 2000 road cars to guarantee the eligibility they were simply just the first 500......and as Gareth says,there were more of the same spec produced with the pumps in the back....

Rippers

There is a guy on ebay quoted his is one of the first '350' proper homogolation Esc Cos's that didn't have a cat

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

thats the first time i have heard this about 500, well the second
if you count the bit in ff
i have info from SVE (ford special vehicle engineering) which was
differant,it mentioned 2500.
i would like to see this info about the 500 then the 2000
but are still homologation

every thing i have ever read or seen even from the very early 90's
was about the 2500

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

have spoken to the guy who owns the company called ERL
they are also known by the name AQUAMIST.
they did the water injection for ford on the sierra cosworths, the
rally escort cosworths the homologation ones and the Wrc escorts.
he said the standard water injection was a joke,and ford cut corners.
infact they smashed them to bits,they wanted to do a water injection
system for 15 quid yes 15, back then it would of cost 400 quid and
would need other modifications so this fella from the company suggested
the use of washer motors,and there was your 15 quid water injection.
he also said he would be surprised if the standard fit water injection
if connected would last 1 rally stage
this is from ERL




ERL was formed in 1980, initially designing and manufacturing industrial and telecommunications equipment. In 1986 we began our involvement with the automotive sector, mainly researching the effect of water inside the internal combustion engine. Two years later our first electronic water-injection system was born: the first system on the market that could accurately meter water-flow. It received a very warm reception at the 1988 Design Show in Birmingham, England. A few months later a parallel aftermarket system was launched, to explosive market reaction: just about every automotive journal wrote it up, and over one hundred systems were sold in the following nine months.

By 1992 mainstream car-makers were waking up to the benefits of water-injection: first Volvo contacted us, and we designed and made a system to enable their engineers to explore the enormous cooling effect of introducing water into a relatively high-compression turbo-charged engine. Rolls Royce was next to get in touch: we designed them an advanced learning/self-programming unit, which enabled their engineers to extract more power and torque from their existing 6.7 litre turbo-charged engines (their Bentley Mulsanne turbo broke the 0-60MPH sprint in under 6 seconds). During this era ERL came up with the world's most intelligent water-injection system, listening for engine-knock and programming its own water-map, using flash memory in the ECU.

About the same time, the Ford Motor Company 'phoned unexpectedly. "Can you supply 3,000 water jets yesterday?" "Yes of course: if you had called yesterday, you would have had them on your desk today..." we replied. That was our first major encounter with a real life-and-death situation: we shipped the lot in six weeks with only a few minutes to spare! The first of the new Cosworth Escorts rolled off the German production line in January 1993. Each car was fitted with our specially-developed water jet. To date over 5,000 jets have been delivered, and we are still shipping them out every month. The 'phone rang again yesterday, but ... it wasn't Ford!

The DIVA

iTrader: (3)

Ok Chaps.........

FIA Homologation Specials

In order for a vehicle to be able to take part in FIA approved races it has to be produced to a minimum number of units by its manufacturer, 5000 for the GroupN class, 2500 for the GroupA class and 200 for the now extinct GroupB. These units have to be similar, in aspect and mechanically, to the ones that will effectively take part in racing i.e. if the racing vehicle has a 4 wheel drive transmission so must also have the homologation base vehicle. Certain mechanical and electronic parts that are present in the racing vehicle must also be present in the homologation base unit. If modifications are required to the competition version then a new series of street going vehicles that include them will have to be produced. These cars were bred by racing for racing.


Logically manufacturers try to size the homologation base vehicle so that its racing counterpart will be as competitive and versatile as possible. For instance FIA rules impose that a GroupN class car cannot exceed the wheel size of the homologation base vehicle. Consequently the bigger the wheels and wheel arches mounted on the homologation base vehicle the more supple the choice of competition wheels will be. Another example is the size of the turbocharger that, if fitted to the homologation base, will have to maintain the same model and size on the competition vehicle. These rules, and many others discussed in further detail here for the GroupN class and here for the GroupA class, have pushed manufacturers to produce road going versions of vehicles destined to competition, the so called "Homologation Specials". Of course solutions applicable to racing vehicles are not the best suited to street going cars. Additionally it only matters that the street going version has the required equipment, dimensions and is produced in sufficient numbers and no particular care is usually taken to its finish or road manners.

October 1st 1974 saw the FIA homologation of the first ever homologation special. It was the Lancia Stratos HF (pictures here, specification here), a purpose-built vehicle, homologated in Group 4 (500 identical cars produced over a period of 24 months were required to obtain the homologation), and produced in 492 road-going copies between 1973 and 1975. The Lancia Stratos essentially reversed the way car manufacturers used to approach racing. Instead of choosing a large scale production model and adapting it to the requirements of racing the Stratos was built as a race car that just happened to have a road-going version.
The Lancia Stratos introduced many of the issues that were to affect FIA homologation car runs. It was extremely difficult to sell as a road-going car as it was introduced in the middle of an oil crisis and only obtained type approval for road use in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and of course Italy. Hence many "Stradale" versions lay unsold well into 1978 at which point they were essentially given away. The car was very approximately finished and ill-mannered as it was a competition car under disguise and numerous manufacturing short comings plagued its road-going version. Most of these concerns were to afflict its homologation successors with very few exceptions. Finally an issue that was to later afflict GroupB car homologation runs (200 identical cars produced over a period of 12 months were required to obtain the homologation) also affected the Stratos. At the time of its FIA homologation (see above) a maximum of 141 cars had been built, far less than the required 500. This was to be the case in GroupB production runs as well were far less than the required number of cars were to be produced...

Many manufacturers have produced such homologation-special vehicles and the list given below is almost exhaustive (unless otherwise stated the cars were homologated in the FIA GroupA):

The Lancia Stratos HF (homologated in FIA Group4, the GroupB predecessor)
The Ford Escort RS1600/RS1800 (homologated in FIA Group4)
The Fiat 131 Abarth (homologated in FIA Group4)
The Audi Sport Quattro (homologated in GroupB)
The Citroën BX 4TC (homologated in GroupB, never raced)
The Ferrari 288 GTO (homologated in GroupB, never raced)
The Lancia 037 a.k.a. rally (homologated in GroupB)
The Lancia Delta S4 (homologated in GroupB)
The Lancia Delta Integrale (all versions including the Delta 4WD with the exception of the Evoluzione II)
The Subaru Impreza Turbo (pre-1997 models)
The Toyota Celica GT4 (all versions)
The Ford Sierra RS500
The Ford RS200 (homologated in GroupB)
The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4
The Ford Escort RS Cosworth (the pre-1995 Garrett T03/04B turbo equipped cars)
The MG Metro 6R4 (homologated in GroupB)
The Nissan Sunny (Pulsar) GTiR
The Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (homologated in GroupB)
The Porsche 959 (homologated in GroupB)
The Mazda 323 turbo 4x4 (all versions)
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (all pre-Evolution VII versions)
The Renault 5 Turbo (homologated in GroupB)
The Volkswagen Golf G60 Rally
Cars such as the Subaru Legacy, the early BMW M3, the Audi Coupe Quattro or the Mitsubishi Galant VR4 and others are not true homologation specials as their production numbers were not dictated by FIA regulations and their design did not directly derive from a competition counterpart. These cars were used in competition only because the base car was already, or was thought to be, adequate for competition purposes.

Most of the homologation specials are recognizable by the number of air vents fitted on their bonnet, front bumper and wheel arches as well as their oversized spoilers and other aerodynamic attributes. These vents, usually blanked on the street versions, are not required for street use but are essential for competition use and have to be present on the homologation base vehicle.

The majority of homologation special cars have not been produced in numbers exceeding those required for their FIA homologation and are, thus, relatively rare and rapidly becoming collectable. Additionally they are often very exciting to drive as, most of them, are in fact detuned competition vehicles under disguise. For a manufacturer producing special series of cars that share very few common parts with other models is an expensive adventure that almost always leads to financial losses. Since the emergence of the WRC class cars in 1997, which do not require street going counterparts and thus represent a serious financial gain for manufacturers, production of homologation specials ceased.

Unfortunately there will most probably never be a second run of production cars displaying the character of the cars described above. Stringent emission control laws, noise level requirements and security features have clogged today's production cars with excessive weight, the number one enemy of any sports car, while their engines feel anemic and characterless when compared to those fitted in most of the 70s, 80s and 90s homologation specials. An era in the car production industry has come to an end.


The 500 rule was apparently that 500 of the 2500 production had to contain all of the little trick extras that the race cars were to run,hence the Rs500 sierras having the extra suspension pickup points and 8 injector plenums etc......that the regular 3 doors didn`t need..

That is why the first 500 cars were the "Homologation" specials....